Strike Back: Vengeance - Season 2 of the explosive action series - Fridays on Cinemax

Status
Not open for further replies.
New episode tonight:
Episode 8

Community unrest plagues South Africa and Zimbabwe following Lutulu's shooting. Stonebridge questions the shooter, while Scott, Lilian and Lutulu are on the run from assassins. Knox and his new ally make a new plan.
Unfortunately, I'm a few weeks behind on the show, but I'll try and catch up soon!
 
Great pair of episodes though the AV Club review is very right when it says that Knox' politically intricate plot has been reduced to the usual black/white supervillainy now, but well, that's only something that occurs to you if you reflect on it.

Also it seems the plotline with his daughter was dropped off entirely.

Well I'm sure the season will finish off strong anyway, just hoping for a renewal announcement any day now. :(
 
Most badass show on TV.

GAF needs to get on this shit by yesterday.

Edit: I just noticed that not a single nip was shown during yesterday's episode. What the fuck.
 
That was a great conclusion to last week's episode. I'm a little annoyed by the contrivance of Scott not killing Craig during their encounter in the hospital basement, but I understand why they didn't do it from a story perspective; Stonebridge obviously has to be the one to take him out. That said, Scott was too sloppy in assuming that two shots to the chest would bring him down. Shoulda double tapped!

Also it seems the plotline with his daughter was dropped off entirely.

I'm sure they'll bring her back next week or the week after. They usually tie things up nicely on this show.
 
well looks like Rhona Mitra will have more field rolls than being just a HQ person.

I don't mind.

I thought Scott died when that van exploded
 
- Hitfix: Cinemax renews 'Strike Back'
Sepinwall said:
"Strike Back" has been renewed for another season.

The action drama about a British special forces unit will return next year for its third season on Cinemax, and its fourth season overall, produced in a partnership between Cinemax/HBO in America and Left Bank and Sky in the UK. Many of the show's writers, directors and producers will return, but the press release says that "due to plot spoilers in upcoming episodes of season two, the cast of season three will be announced at a later date as well." (Could be that somebody major dies in the last two episodes, or that nobody else dies but they don't want us to be reassured of that yet.)

I'm a couple of episodes behind on the current season, but have been enjoying it immensely so far, and am glad the show will be continuing.

EDIT:
Cinemax Press Release said:
NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2012 – The Emmy®-nominated series STRIKE BACK will return to CINEMAX in 2013 for a third season of ten new episodes, which will shoot in South Africa and Hungary. CINEMAX/HBO will again produce the series with partners Left Bank and Sky, who will air the series in the U.K. Returning for season three will be Left Bank’s Andy Harries as executive producer, series producer Michael Casey and head of production Marigo Kehoe. Sky’s Huw Kennair-Jones will executive produce.

Others returning for season three include director Michael Bassett (“Silent Hill: Revelation 3D”) and writers Simon Burke (“Persuasion”), James Dormer (“MI-5”) and Richard Zajdlic (“EastEnders”). Additional directors and writers will be announced as they are confirmed. Due to plot spoilers in upcoming episodes of season two, the cast of season three will be announced at a later date as well.

Also returning to the drama series for next season are the show’s confidential consultants, who work in the field of counterterrorism. Their expertise is a resource for story, lingo, procedure, accuracy, character development and regional issues, providing a look inside the highly secretive black ops world. They also train the cast in battle tactics, weapons and fighting, as the lead actors do most of their own stunts.

Debuting in 2011, STRIKE BACK was the first collaboration between CINEMAX/HBO and Sky. The first season introduced an unlikely pair of operatives in the stealth counterterrorism unit Section 20: Sgt. Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester), an exceptional British Special Forces (SBS) soldier, and the less-conventional Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), a former U.S. Delta Force member. In the second season, currently debuting new episodes Fridays at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) and concluding its run Oct. 12, the team tracks nuclear triggers stolen by a powerful businessman with dangerous geo-political ambitions, while the two lead characters face personal challenges and contend with the pressures of their high-stress work.

In addition to Philip Winchester (“Crusoe,” “Camelot”) and Sullivan Stapleton (“Animal Kingdom,” the upcoming “Gangster Squad,” “300: The Battle for Artemesia”), season two stars of STRIKE BACK include Rhashan Stone (“Episodes”) and Michelle Lukes (“Alexander”). Season two guest stars include Rhona Mitra (“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”), Charles Dance (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), Vincent Regan (“Snow White and the Huntsman”), Liam Garrigan (“Pillars of the Earth”) and Shane Taylor (“Band of Brothers”).
 
I posted this in the cancellation thread but it's probably more at home here with 'like minded' people.

The ULTIMATE guilty television pleasure. It's like a Canon or Carolco action film every week.

There seems to be that unwritten (80's action film) rule on Strike Back that whenever a stunning female character is introduced she'll be naked and getting plowed five minutes later.

Also the British male lead (Philip Winchester) is my choice to be the next Bond. I'm telling you right now he's a dead cert in my eyes. Watch for it.

*cough*
 
Jesus fuck, I just read the word cancellation on Busty's post before checking Cornballer's and nearly had a heart attack.

Good news indeed. And the comparisons with Canon and Carolco are spot on.
 
rJc2H.gif
 
Jesus fuck, I just read the word cancellation on Busty's post before checking Cornballer's and nearly had a heart attack.

Good news indeed. And the comparisons with Canon and Carolco are spot on.

Same thing happened to me! I love this show, so another season is wonderful!

They're going to need to build their team back up again too. I'm curious who will be joining them for next season too.
 
They're going to need to build their team back up again too. I'm curious who will be joining them for next season too.

It's interesting that they're not announcing the returning cast for season 3.
4
Last season they did the same thing and Colonel Grant was killed off in the finale. I suspect that this time around, though, they're just trying to create suspense by not announcing the casting details; it's not necessarily because they're going to kill someone off.

Still, it's possible that someone is, in fact, going to be killed. If that's the case, outside of Craig and Knox (and his men) - whom are all certain to die, who do we think it will be?
 
The other sec 20 guy who blew up the tent stocked with explosives will die. Loved the last episode. How can no one know where that camp was? Laura croft is an awesome sniper
 
They will build up cannon fodders story with flashbacks. Then he will die at the end. Cue lost closing credits.
 
Finally got caught up last night. Watching the two-parters back-to-back works really well, so I'm not sure if I'm going to hold off until next week to watch episodes 9 & 10 at the same time.

RIP Sinclair. :( The last few episodes have been brutal.
 
The craftsmanship on this series is incredible. From the huge ass explosion at the beginning to the elevator bomb to the standoff at the end...it's just absolutely insane. I also love how they inject little bits of humanity into their otherwise fairly regular villains. Was pretty meh about the new season at the beginning but it's become really great.

However I wonder, when did 20 suddenly go from rogue 5-man party to full-blown command center thing again? Did I miss anything?

Also the AV Club review seems to suggest it's been renewed already. Yay.
 
Good episode, although it felt slightly filler-ish. Nothing terrible anyway, it was just a bit slower than the norm (which is not hard considering the show's insane pace).


However I wonder, when did 20 suddenly go from rogue 5-man party to full-blown command center thing again? Did I miss anything?
I'm guessing it had something to do with that SA official being revealed as a mole.

Also the AV Club review seems to suggest it's been renewed already. Yay.
It's been renewed, yes.
 
OK I realized I just missed the press release when scrolling down. Good to know the next season will have European locations again, admittedly I find Africa getting a bit stale, but the advantages of shooting there are obvious, so it's kind of tough. :/
 

I hear these comments a lot, like "Strike Back is trash, but I really like it", you know, that kind of stuff. I'm pretty sure it's just people too insecure to admit they are loving a show that's not some highbrow cable Emmy fodder. They don't know how to deal with that so they try to justify it with an attitude like "well it's actually bad and I know it, but...".
 
I hear these comments a lot, like "Strike Back is trash, but I really like it", you know, that kind of stuff. I'm pretty sure it's just people too insecure to admit they are loving a show that's not some highbrow cable Emmy fodder. They don't know how to deal with that so they try to justify it with an attitude like "well it's actually bad and I know it, but...".

There's nothing wrong with liking such things. I see the show as nice, dumb fun. Perfectly okay to enjoy it.
 
There's nothing wrong with liking such things. I see the show as nice, dumb fun. Perfectly okay to enjoy it.
his point is that people go out of their way to say that it is a bad show, so that they don't loose street creed among the breaking bad/insert other emmy winner crowd

hence instead of saying "it's a fun show, I enjoy to watch it" you write "Strike Back is definitely the best worst show on T.V. at the moment."
 
his point is that people go out of their way to say that it is a bad show, so that they don't loose street creed among the breaking bad/insert other emmy winner crowd

hence instead of saying "it's a fun show, I enjoy to watch it" you write "Strike Back is definitely the best worst show on T.V. at the moment."

Yep, exactly my point. You put it better than myself actually.

Of course the plots and characters are mostly simple, but like I said before, the craftsmanship, the stunts, production design and action choreography are on another level entirely (just compare any of the show's gunplay scenes to the hilarious, terribly edited joke of a shootout in this week's Last Resort episode).

At least to me, these kinds of qualities are not inherently less valuable than outstanding characterization or writing; the show just has a different focus and there's nothing wrong with saying you're fan of it without immediately qualifying it with "even though it's bad".

Though I've noticed this about movies too, people will say they've loved Taken, "but of course it's really stupid, you know, but..." because these days it seems you can't admit liking more basic forms of entertainment without simultaneously stating you're above them.
 
Yep, exactly my point. You put it better than myself actually.

Of course the plots and characters are mostly simple, but like I said before, the craftsmanship, the stunts, production design and action choreography are on another level entirely (just compare any of the show's gunplay scenes to the hilarious, terribly edited joke of a shootout in this week's Last Resort episode).

At least to me, these kinds of qualities are not inherently less valuable than outstanding characterization or writing; the show just has a different focus and there's nothing wrong with saying you're fan of it without immediately qualifying it with "even though it's bad".

Though I've noticed this about movies too, people will say they've loved Taken, "but of course it's really stupid, you know, but..." because these days it seems you can't admit liking more basic forms of entertainment without simultaneously stating you're above them.

Not Strike Back is even that dumb. The heroes don't always win, main characters die, there are very real consequences for almost everything Section 20 do and the show does a fairly good job of showing these characters as damaged people who have given everything to their countries. Would anyone want to be Stonebridge or Scott? Death and loss punctuated with booze and mostly meaningless sex at every turn.

Yes, it has more explosions and gunfire than Breaking Bad but this is still A quality adult entertainment. Like you said, I definitely think there's something with a lot of people this generation who feel they need to like things ironically. They can't admit to just liking somethings unless The New Yorker or scores of critics say you can.
 
Not Strike Back is even that dumb. The heroes don't always win, main characters die, there are very real consequences for almost everything Section 20 do and the show does a fairly good job of showing these characters as damaged people who have given everything to their countries. Would anyone want to be Stonebridge or Scott? Death and loss punctuated with booze and mostly meaningless sex at every turn.

Yes, it has more explosions and gunfire than Breaking Bad but this is still A quality adult entertainment. Like you said, I definitely think there's something with a lot of people this generation who feel they need to like things ironically. They can't admit to just liking somethings unless The New Yorker or scores of critics say you can.

The thing I love about it is that it's punctuated with indulgence, but looking at the whole picture, if it didn't have the casual sex scenes and the extravagant action, it would be a very dark and almost humorless show. The out there stuff hits like a serious FUCK YEA because it's a reaction to swinging back from a very important character taking a bullet to the head or some other traumatic event. I find it very hard to isolate any one thing about this show, be it a screencap or a scene or whatever. You can't isolate anything about it and say "this is what Strike Back is like" because it swings back and forth to it's own beat. It is very much the show it wants to be, it's not struggling for more or making due with less, which makes it hard to have a conversation about. But it accomplishes it's goals so well and so honestly, I don't know how anyone couldn't be hooked after two episodes. There is nothing particularly "bad" about it if it gets your shit going the way it's designed to. It's easily one of the best things on TV and probably the most fun to watch.
 
Episode 9 definitely felt like a set up episode. It was a good one though. All the pieces are in place for a kick ass finale.

Of course the plots and characters are mostly simple, but like I said before, the craftsmanship, the stunts, production design and action choreography are on another level entirely.

At least to me, these kinds of qualities are not inherently less valuable than outstanding characterization or writing; the show just has a different focus and there's nothing wrong with saying you're fan of it without immediately qualifying it with "even though it's bad".

Well said.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom